Addressing educational disadvantage and ensuring that every child and young person can reach their full potential is a key priority for me as Minister for Education and Youth. The introduction of the DEIS plus scheme will provide enhanced supports to a small cohort of schools with the very highest concentration of students at risk of educational disadvantage.
Schools were identified for inclusion in DEIS plus throug…
TDs / Hildegarde Naughton
Hildegarde Naughton
Minister for Education and Youth
Portrait: © Houses of the Oireachtas (Oireachtas (Open Data) PSI Licence) · source file
0
questions asked
Members of the Government answer questions rather than ask them
67,004
words spoken in the chamber
67,004 as a minister, 0 as a TD
322
votes recorded
Each Yes, No or Abstained in a recorded vote
From the Dáil chamber only: committee meetings are not in this archive.
Members of the Government answer parliamentary questions rather than ask them, so this page lists none of theirs.
Month by month
Low months are usually recesses, when the Dáil does not sit. The archive runs to 22 October 2026.
Contributions to debates 251 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
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| Month | Contributions |
|---|---|
| December 2024 | 1 |
| January 2025 | 10 |
| February 2025 | 23 |
| March 2025 | 7 |
| April 2025 | 7 |
| May 2025 | 10 |
| June 2025 | 19 |
| July 2025 | 1 |
| August 2025 | 0 |
| September 2025 | 10 |
| October 2025 | 8 |
| November 2025 | 14 |
| December 2025 | 0 |
| January 2026 | 4 |
| February 2026 | 41 |
| March 2026 | 1 |
| April 2026 | 31 |
| May 2026 | 22 |
| June 2026 | 2 |
| July 2026 | 34 |
| August 2026 | 0 |
| September 2026 | 4 |
| October 2026 | 2 |
Debates they spoke in most
Plus 213 contributions in the regular slots, such as Leaders' Questions and Priority Questions. Speech from the chair is not counted.
Party, constituency and offices
- constituency Galway West 29 November 2024 to now
- party Fine Gael 29 November 2024 to now
- office Minister of State at the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth with responsibility for Disability 23 January 2025 to 1 May 2025
- office Minister of State at the Department of Children, Disability and Equality 2 May 2025 to 18 November 2025
- office Minister for Education and Youth 18 November 2025 to now
The identification model has to be applied consistently right across the country to have fairness and transparency around it. Under the DEIS strategy to 2035, work is under way in my Department, with colleagues in the Central Statistics Office and across other Departments, to utilise other administrative data sources to help improve how we can resource schools in a targeted way to support children and young people at…
The appeals process is underway at the moment. It will be announced shortly. I am not involved in that. It is independently being assessed. There is an identification model. It has to be done fairly and transparently. For that reason, the appeal process was limited to enrolment data which underpins the model. That is through the primary online database, POD, system and the post-primary online database, P-POD, system.…
I thank the Deputy. My Department is delivering significant projects in Dublin Mid-West and continues to progress further important projects. There are currently eight projects onsite across Dublin Mid-West, including new school buildings for Coláiste Pobail Fola, Gaelscoil na Camóige, Gaelscoil Chluain Dolcáin and Holy Family Community School. Gaelscoil Lír was substantially completed and handed over to the school a…
There has been a lot of correspondence in relation to Scoil Chrónáin in Rathcoole. The Minister of State, Deputy Higgins, along with the Deputy have raised concerns around this. I reassure the Deputy in regard to Scoil Chrónáin, which is an all-Irish co-educational primary school under the patronage of the Archbishop of Dublin. The brief for the permanent project is to provide a new 16-classroom primary school and ac…
I am conscious if I go into one school I am going to run out of time but I heard the schools the Deputy raised. To be eligible for inclusion in the first tranche of projects to proceed, projects needed to be ready and be at the appropriate stage of readiness. Stage 3 is tender and stage 2b is detailed design and pre-tender. Within this context, priority was afforded to special schools, and we will be having a focus o…
Tá an síneadh atá le cur leis an scoil, ar thagair an Teachta dó, ceadaithe le dul isteach i bpíblíne thionscadail mo Roinne chun seomra ranga príomhshrutha amháin agus trí sheomra oideachais speisialta a chur ar fáil. Rinneadh é a chineachadh chun seachadta chuig údarás na scoile.
In early June, departmental officials contacted the school to advise that its project remained under review in the context of NDP parame…
Mar is amhlaidh le gach tionscadal tógála scoile, déantar iad a mheas i gcomhthéacs thosaíocht fhoriomlán an chláir agus paraiméadair mhaoinithe an phlean forbartha náisiúnta, PFN. I bplean infheistíochta earnála PFN mo Roinne, leagtar amach béim mo Roinne ar acmhainn reatha a uasmhéadú agus tús áite a thabhairt d’fheidhmiú céimneach tionscadail chun na riachtanais is práinní a shásamh, go háirithe chun tacú le solát…
It is important to note that only projects that are already at tender stage or close to be tender ready are included in the tranche of the NDP. The Department-led energy and condition survey has been conducted right throughout the country. That is being considered at the moment. We are looking at a new prioritisation list for the next tranche, so priority projects at earlier stages of the pipeline continue to be adva…
I am looking forward to Sunday, if I can squeeze that in.
The roll-out of my Department’s climate action summer works scheme is a key part of our commitment under the national development plan to support investment in the existing school estate while also delivering on the climate action agenda. Through the scheme, schools can undertake a wide range of improvement projects and targeted climate measures, such as fabr…
The next tranche of approvals is due this coming October for summer 2027. Drawing on experience from the Department's pathfinder programme, the new summer works scheme includes several climate action measures. Schools applying for the scheme select their preferred project category. There are ten categories of projects supported under this scheme, and all schools that applied for laboratory upgrades under it had their…
We listen to schools around further supports that they need. Under the last scheme, any school that applied for laboratory upgrades received them. Some 63 projects were approved. I can follow up with the Department in relation to moving that along. Schools can apply for one of the ten categories. I will outline them because sometimes there is confusion in relation to those categories. They are: climate action works, …
Education about domestic and gender-based violence is addressed in the SPHE curriculum at both junior cycle and senior cycle. An updated junior cycle SPHE specification was rolled out in schools from September 2023, with all schools required to provide the subject for all junior cycle students. An updated senior cycle SPHE specification was published in 2024 and is being introduced on a phased basis, with all schools…
The Deputy raises a very important issue. We have seen reports on the news in recent weeks on the impact of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence. It is important that we raise awareness, as a society. These are also conversations that need to happen at home, with parents.
It is important that we situate the area of learning within the SPHE programme, rather than in a separate programme. SPHE aims to equip youn…
I welcome the opportunity to respond to this motion. I recognise and share the genuine concern felt by many families at the beginning of the new school year, which can bring real and often significant financial pressure. I have listened to parents who have described the financial pressures they face when a number of education-related costs arise at the same time. That is why the Government has made affordability a ce…
Ireland has made remarkable progress in promoting and protecting the rights of LGBTQI+ people. Pride offers us a valuable moment to reflect on that journey, to celebrate the diversity, inclusion and joy that define it and to stand in solidarity with the LGBTQI+ community.
I want to acknowledge those who campaigned for equality at a time when doing so required great courage. The freedoms we recognise today were hard …
I move:
That Dáil Éireann approves the following Regulations in draft:
Data Protection Act 2018 (Section 60(6)) and (Section 51(3)) (Commission of Investigation into the Handling of Historical Child Sexual Abuse in Day and Boarding Schools) Regulations 2026;
a copy of which was laid in draft before Dáil Éireann on the 16th June, 2026.
I thank Deputy Kenny for his question. My Department is in the final stages of work on the first special needs assistant workforce development plan and associated documents. The plan provides a comprehensive framework for understanding and supporting SNAs, children with special educational needs and school communities. It will, through a co-created series of policy developments, strengthen, clarify and offer clear di…
I thank the Deputy. I want to publish these documents within the coming weeks. They are at an advanced stage and they were codesigned with SNAs, stakeholders and advocacy groups. The Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, and I met with them all again recently. We did a day-long session looking at all of these documents to make sure we get this right. The new circular to replace Circulars 30/2014 and 71/2011 on the role…
I should have said at the outset that we have more SNAs now than ever before. There were 24,896 SNAs in our schools. We will have over 26,000 this coming September. I absolutely know, as a former teacher, the value and the role of the SNA. I do not need to tell the Deputy, Members of this House or indeed parents or young children and students themselves who need the support of SNAs working with the class teacher, the…
I thank the Deputy for his question. School secretaries and caretakers are at the heart of schools in this country and they are the key interface, as we all know, between students, parents, school leaders and other staff. Without them, our schools would be unsustainable, given the value of what they contribute, so supporting our school staff is an absolute priority.
My Department has been engaging with Fórsa and the…
I concur with everything the Deputy has said there. I met with the school secretaries and caretakers in my own constituency at the time. I know many of them. They are very familiar to me. They do not take going out on protests lightly. They did not want to be there. I heard that loud and clear and I recognise that a comparable pension entitlement and enhanced terms and conditions are, understandably, important object…
Regarding secretaries and caretakers being given access to the single public service pension scheme, engagement, supported by the State's industrial relation bodies, has been ongoing. As with all industrial relations processes where engagement is sensitive and complex, discussions remain confidential.
My Department welcomed the commencement of the auto-enrolment retirement savings scheme, which is administered by th…
I had a wonderful visit to Scoil Mhuire Milford last week with Deputy Mac Lochlainn, Senator Manus Boyle and other Deputies. I want to commend the work of the school. You can see the fantastic ethos there, the learning and teaching and the warmth that is evident there. I always say it is very clear when you walk into a school the atmosphere that is there and that was very apparent in Scoil Mhuire Milford.
My Departm…
As the Deputy knows, the school operates on a tight urban site which adjoins a relatively busy road than most rural schools. The school has identified various issues with accommodation, including traffic management, uneven and small internal floor areas and, as I could see for myself, a sloping site topography and a limited play space. The school also referenced expected future housing growth and the urgency of actin…